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The Ticker

March 18, 1991|By Julius Westheimer

When looking for a job today, it's not enough to have only the required technical skills. "Employers look for candidates who understand critical issues affecting companies in the 1990s and must know that you're willing and able to respond to pressures of doing business in a global village," says National Business Employment Weekly, dated March 17.

Excerpts: "Demonstrating a knowledge of key business trends and how they affect a prospective employer is a crucial job requirement. . . Describing your abilities as a team player will help your job-winning chances. . . At the same time, good team players also must be individual contributors. . . Prior to interviews, research a prospective employer's products and customers. . . Taking the safe road, doing your job, and not making waves may not get you fired (right away at least), but it won't help your career or your company long-term. . . Leaders risk-takers -- are in very short supply, but ones with vision are pure gold."

MARYLAND WORKPLACE: "Any time I socialized with management too much, it hurt my career." (Successful local radio-TV entertainer). . . Every employee should know: what's my job, who's my boss, and how am I doing? If no one tells you, ask. . . A retired USF&G executive told me that the stock plunge cost him $1 million (he had 30,000 shares) and that the dividend slash shredded his income $90,000 a year. . . When, as a teen-ager, I worked after hours for my Dad in his Baltimore stock brokerage office, he paid me $5 a week, and said, "Get me two packs of Camels with this quarter and bring me the change," and he warned, "We're not clock-watchers around here." . . . When a young man recently complained to me that he had sent out 400 job resumes without getting any replies, I advised, "Use that same energy getting personal appointments with people who have the power to hire you." He then got three interviews.

RECESSION REVIEW: A service station manager told me yesterday that he feels the recession is not letting up. "They used to say, 'Fill 'er up,' but now they ask, 'Could I have $5 worth of gas, please? ' " The manager also told me that when a woman was getting gas recently, just as he began to lower prices, she saw the sign change as she pulled out, returned, demanded 31 cents refund and got it. ("I wanted to keep her good will."). . . My dentist told me the recession appears to be hanging on. "January and February were good months," he said, "but in March people are cancelling elective dentistry and paying slowly."

MARCH WINDS: "Money in an IRA account isn't always locked up as tightly as people assume. Even someone as young as 48 can make withdrawals without penalty, the IRS just explained." (U. S. News & World Report, dated today). . . A local health services marketing group, meeting at Cross Keys, served eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast. . . "It seems ridiculous now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation." (CNN News). . . "In an interview, don't appear more aggressive than the interviewer." (Knock 'em Dead by Martin Yate). . . "I'll tell you a secret," said the tax collector, "we don't send out first notices any more; second notices are much more effective." (Bits & Pieces). . . "In recessions, people go out of their way to find outlet stores to save money." (Nation's Business, March). . . "Listen with your body, turn fully toward the person speaking, put down whatever you're doing, establish eye contact, pay full attention." (Bottom Line).